China's Shanxi Coke Union said that it plans to cut coke production by up to 50% due to the present higher coke price, a local newspaper reported.

Currently, the skyrocketing coke prices exerted great pressure on steel mills, many of which have shut down or suspended production because of the high cost. The shrinking demand, in turn, affected the coke production.

Last month, China, the world's largest coke exporter, raised the tariff for coke export to 40% from the previous 25%, in a bid to ease the tight supply in domestic markets and reduce exports of high pollution products.

In July 2008, the total coke output in the country was 30.07 million tons, a month-on-month decrease of 3.6% compared with 31.20 million tons in June.

It is expected that China's coke output could rise to 350-360 million tons this year, according to Yang Wenbiao, secretary general of China Coking Industry Association.

(China Knowledge, Sep 5, 2008)